1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information-supply control apparatuses and methods, and in particular, to an information-supply control apparatus and method which enables efficient information supply by providing information with priority.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cable television (CATV) system distributes video signals from one head end (broadcasting station) to subscribers' television receivers via optical fiber cables and so forth. Since the CATV system has a relatively large cable transmission capacity, it is proposed that the CATV system should provide service for connecting to the Internet. In this case, a cable modem as a cable-line end is connected to the CATV system, and a plurality of personal computers and the like are connected to this cable modem via a local area network (LAN) using an Ethernet etc. In addition, each personal computer is connected to the head end via the LAN, and the head end establishes connection to the Internet.
In this manner, when information is received from or transmitted to the Internet with the CATV system, the information is entangled, and in the worst case, there is a possibility in which each subscriber cannot receive video signals, distributed in real time on the Internet, in the form of a moving picture. In addition, when such a situation arises, there is a problem in which restoring to the normal condition takes time.